The order of performance was picked randomly, except for the top 3 placing from last year and the defending champ that went on last. MC Reason took the mic, laid out the rules and running order, then all competitors performed their 6 min sets. Everyone did their best with no technical issues, production was tight and the whole night ran smoothly. The judges scores were tallied while DJ Kuya performed a Native Instruments showcase set. Following up was DJ Total Eclipse, who performed a classic X-Ecutioners showcase set which brought the house down ! The winners was then announced followed by a club set by DJ Peril.

The ITF DJ Battle was founded in 1996 to highlight and categorise different skills the DJs had. Past world champs include Babu, Craze, Infamous, I-Emerge, A Track, Woody, Tigerstyle, and Rafik. Past team champs include X-Ecutioners, Beat Junkies, Allies, and Invisibl Skratch Piklz (Q Bert, Mix Master Mike, and Shortkut). In 2006 all chapters across the globe decided the need for a change with new formats and new rules and hence the changes.

ITF chapters have changed to IDA (International DJ Association). The competitors will have 2 minute rounds each going head to head working their way up to the final round battling for the title “2009 IDA Australasian DJ Champion” and to represent at the world finals in Krakow, Poland on 12th Dec 2009. In the same format as last year, we are opening our doors to our asian neighbours for an exclusive invitational battle with only 1 wildcard entry.The battle took place on Saturday 28th November at Zen, Auckland New Zealand. This was the first year the Australasian DJ Championships was held in New Zealand and it was quite a showdown at the final round with Australia's Vice DMC Champ DJ Zeke going up against New Zealand's 2 X DMC Champ DJ Impact. They both showed incredible skills and originality but it was down to the judges and after the incredibly hard task of judging one of the tightest rounds the winner was announced taking $7,000 in in prizes thanks to DENON and ROCKSHOP.

Zeke will now be flown to Poland to represent Australasia at the 2009 IDA World DJ Championships on the 12th December 2009. We wish him the best of luck!! We had a chance to have a chat to him before he left. Click here for the interview..

The official oz chapter of the infamous ITF DJ Battle is back in town with a new look, new format, and even a new name. The ITF was founded in 1996 to highlight and categorise different skills the DJs had. Past world champs include Babu, Craze, Infamous, I-Emerge, A Track, Woody, Tigerstyle, Rafik, and J Red. Past team champs include X-Ecutioners, Beat Junkies, Allies, and Invisibl Skratch Piklz (Q Bert, Mix Master Mike, and Shortkut).

In 2006 all chapters across the globe decided the need for a change with new formats and new rules and hence the changes. ITF chapters (International Turntablist Federation) is now known as IDA (International DJ Association). Australia has not seen a head to head DJ Battle since 2005 and we are proud to announce it's return at the arts capital of Australia, Melbourne. In celebration of the return we are inviting our Asian neighbors to make this event an exclusive battle of the whole South Asian region. The DJs have just 2 minutes to showcase their skills in knock out rounds going head to head. As Mix Master Mike once stated “I much prefer the head to head format as it is more spontaneous and sporadic”. Not to take away anything from our first religion DMC where it is more mainstream and showcase format.. this format is simply a more underground style of battling. Hence we have chosen Melbourne’s underground hip hop venue “First Floor"

Support acts for the night include the emerging talent of the Melbourne City Duo of Mike Justice and J Funk, and RKS. The jam will continue till 6AM with club sets from Staen 1 (3 X Aust DMC DJ Champ), DJ Sheep (3 X QLD DMC Champ), Son (NSW ITF/Scribble Jam Champ), Sum1 (former Australasian ITF Champ), A$K (Australia’s first ITF Champ), and Kareem (Official Referee/ Party Rocker). There will also be a special tribute to a fallen veteran of Australian Hip Hop DJ Bribe (R.I.P) hosted by his home boy DJ Sheep (Turntable Jediz). For more info visit www.idaaustralia.com

RBK INTERNATIONAL DJ ASSOCIATION WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS is one of the most important music events of the upcoming months. Apart from exciting dj competition we will have a chance to see performances from the best turntablists in the world who will prepare special shows with live bands.
Perfect combination of turntables and live instruments will attract a wide range of audience from jazz listeners, through funk lovers to the real hip-hop fans.

With the support of companies like RBK, 7 DAYS, G - SHOCK, RED BULL and the help of Municipality of Cracow this event will take place on December the 8th in Krakow, Poland. Countries taking part this year so far are ISRAEL, SPAIN, ITALY, GERMANY, AUSTRIA, CZECH, SLOVAKIA, POLAND, IRLEAND, AND FRANCE. World Final prizes will be provided by Reebok, G Shock, Mixvibes, Ecler, Akai, UDG, Shure and Personus. As other countries including Japan and Australia are in transition from ITF, they will take part in the following year 2008 which promises to be the biggest yet! For more info visit www.ida2007.com or www.myspace.com/ida2007

On Sunday the 7th of October 2007 DJ Rafik took out the DMC World Title and brought the Gold Decks back to germany after 16 years since DJ David in 1991. It was a definate clear cut win for Rafik who allready had 5 World Champion titles under his belt in the ITF DJ Championships. Rafik also was the first DJ to take out 3 categories of the ITF in one year. more details and interview coming soon......

::
2007 DMC World DJ Championships ::

It's that time of year again and the 2007 DMC World DJ Championships are well on their way with some countries having hosted their finals and their champions ready to take on the rest of the world! Countries competing this year are : Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Holland, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mauritius, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK, United Arab Emirates (GCC), and USA. The World Finals will take place at the home of DMC, London UK on Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th October @ Indigo2. The battle tools allowed in this comp is one set of Technics SL1210 MK2 turntables, one mixer with no effects or modifications and stylus only in the Ortofon range (due to the large cash prize sponsorship). This restriction caused a bit of a stir last year but tablists this year are learning to live with it and getting on with the show. The winners will receive prizes from Technics, Ortofon and CK One, with the overall champion taking the ultimate prize back to their country, The Golden Technics Turntables, Ortofon’s prize of $10,000 and last but not least the title DMC WORLD DJ CHAMPION.Winners so far :

Country

Main Battle Winner

Supremacy Battle Winner

Winning Team

U.K

JFB

Switch

United Arab Emirates

Gilbert - Kuwait

Spain

DJ Pimp

Pimp

Golfinger Crew

Norway

Final

Belgium

Crossfingaz

Crossfingaz

Denmark

Diverze

China

Wordy

Australia

Perplex

Canada

Shub

Japan

Miyajima

Jif-Rock

Kireek

Italy

Craim

France

Fly

d'Oeuvre

Traumateam

U.S.A

Precision

Shiftee

The Australian DMC DJ Championships took place on the 17th August 2007 at Metro Nightclub Melbourne with Live Acts Ilzilla, Phrase, and DJ Flagrant. Competetors were A-Style (VIC), Zeke (WA), Skoob and B 2wo (NSW), Buik (ACT), Snair (QLD), and defending champion Perplex.
The results were as follows:

DJ
J Red is officially the first Australian to win the World DJ Championships. The
new X-Perimental category was launched this year at the Australian
ITF DJ Championships (HOME Sydney) and J Red won the category hands
down with his 'word first' VDJ Routine. The introduction of this
category this year proved that with the help of technology, this
category can take this artform to a level never imagined. On Saturday
17th December J Red made history and took
out the ITF World DJ Championships in Prague. There was
more than 30 DJs from 15 nations competing in 5 categories: Advancement,
Beatjuggling, Scratching,
Experimental Class, and Teams. We managed to interrupt his
celebrations for a brief interview ...

Firstly tell us how you’re feeling at the moment.Absolutely
blown away! Ive accomplished one of my wildest dreams,
It really is a great feeling.

What does the ITF World title mean to you ?Well
it’s the most esteemed DJ/Turntablist World Championships fully dedicated
to the the advancement of the DJ culture throughout 35 or so
countries. It’s up there alright, I took out the new x perimental catgory
which is pretty dope! Its a great thing to conquer.

Tell us a bit about why you wanted to go into the x perimental category?It’s
new and exciting, you’re not bound to just 2 turntables and a 2 channel
battle mixer. I entered in the Australian with the Pioneer DVJ unit,
it’s
essentially a DVD turntable, also armed with a World first ‘Battle record
DVD’, which contains sound samples as well as visual samples from movies,
etc. To get all the visuals spot on I got talking to Rob Ride who has
done
some of the maddest animation and visuals at different events all over
Melbourne, we got working on it thinking it would be good to fill up
the
movie samples with some 3d animations,
By the time I had gotten to the world finals I had a 4th version of the
set complete with some crazy 3d stuff that looks great when cut-up.
I did something completely different and caught the whole world off-guard,
but at the same time its been sitting waiting to be done.. properly!
That
is..

What inspires you keep training after 11 wins ?I
just love the beats, and manipulating old to new. I love battling,
I love scratching, juggling, dissing!.. im a junkie for this stuff, man
I
need help! But seriously I have 11 Australian DJ Championship titles
between
the ITF, Vestax, DMC teams, Quiksilver comp. I love how every comp has
different angles of approach, for instance ITF and Vestax are like the
Turntablist Olympics, DMC is more of straight up showcase style, I also
took
out the Australian Quiksilver DJ comp which was a quik mixing club set
comp
which is more DJ mixing orientated,.
I try to push myself to excel in all areas of being a Performance DJ,
I like the pressure, the hard yards practicing, the sleepless nights,
Really I do!!!! Haha!

Who are your influences ? To
many to name really, but, for my first ten DJs I heard or saw that influenced
me were –

Do
you think the VDJ thing will catch on to other tablists next year and
where do you see this whole technology heading?Oh
hell yeah, already im getting emails asking heaps of questions about editing
and sequencing etc,.. I also think it’s a great thing for DJs
and
turntablists, but like anything you can abuse it or do it justice.
It opens up a new realm for us all, hey who knows T.V and Movie production
companies might be calling us up to do editing work, or we can focus
on
doing bigger live shows with the visual aspect etc..
The only limitation is youre imagination…

What
do you think of the standards at the world itf’s and did you have any favorite competitors ?Yeah
the comp has stepped up a notch every year,. Its very fierce and competitive,
the routines are absolutely insane. Everyone is pressing
up
there own records which I think is great, its give people a lot more
freedom
to be more musical,.. and finally I don’t want to name favorites that
not
nice!! Haha!

You’re
the first Australian World Champion and you’ve definitely put us on the map. Will you retire after this or keep competing ?Ill
be doing a lot of showcases around the globe this year- Asia, Europe etc,
lets see if I have time, I will give it a crack again though!

Where can we see you play ?You
can catch me at ALL GOOD! @ First floor (Melbourne) on Wednesdays if you’re
down to party.

As you all know, on saturday the 17th of december, the
ITF Wolrd DJ Championships had been hold in Prague / Roxy. The venue
looked quite nice, the choice of competitors was unique and the audience
including the judges were celebrating a damn fresh party. Even the Friday
was more than funny and was worth to tell a lot of stories about, but
we would rather keep it low and focus on the important topics – the battles.
Like we mentioned before, the competitors field represented the half
globe, so that every DJ from Japan to Australia, through Europe and to
the US was hanging around there – ready to compete. The mood was very
good and it is worth to say, that all competing DJs behaved very familar.
That is the way it sould be done !!!

After the Elimination Battles for the Adv.Class a lot of interesting
couples to battle each other were left. The whole niveau and quality
of the battles had been very high and it is more tham hard to mention
highlights, because every single battle already was highlight.
But you can believe, that there had been a few actions, that have been
the pure gold, shining on the whole audience and let them go crazy.
In the semi finals DJ Pro Zeiko (Germany) beat DJ Sensay(Switzerland)
and DJ Craim (Italy) opened the exit door for DJ Sil Cuts (UK). In the
finals round it was a close battle again. DJ Craim did really hot DJ
routines, useless to mention that all of his routines had been pure platinum,
but DJ Pro Zeiko did a little bit better and so he won the crown in the
KING SIZE discipline.

The team battle routine of the french DJs ( DJ Pfel, DJ Greem, DJ Atom,
DJ 20Syl ) called C2C let definately the earth quake in Prague for at
least six minutes. Total crazy shit, everybody was astonished, a sound
and stage performance like this, you only get once in 10 Years. No Joke
!!! Even if there was the 3rd world war going on, all people would have
put down their weapons, just to listen to DJ Team Action.
The opponent team Scrape Tacticians from Germany really had no chance.
No way!!!
But they also did a good routine.

Another hellfire was started in the Experimental Class. DJ J-Red from
Australia showed what is possible with a DVJ Player. He let visuals dancing
on the screens while doing a musical composition. It was the first time
a DJ used a DVD Scratch equipment at the ITF Battles. Thank you J-Red,
you opened new doors for all of us and reached the next Level.

The finals of the scratching category had been interesting too. The
multi World Champion DJ Rafik from Germany, had really hard opponents.
One guy, from US, called DJ-Idee, was a really enrichment this year as
well as the European Champion DJ Unkut.
Everybody could see, that “Scratching” is not any disease or an animal
from outer space - No, they showed the audience beat cuts from higher
level and scratch combinations, of an enormous level of difficulty. The
last year defending Champion DJ Rafik did it again, but DJ Unkut was
really near to kick his ass from the throne.

The same for the Beatjuggling Category. Again, battles in higher dimensions.
DJ Pro Zeiko (Germany), DJ Pfel (France), DJ Color (Italy) and DJ Hara
(Japan) extracted the audience eardrums, while creating new beats. DJ
Pro Zeiko from Germany was the moste creative one, and diserved to take
the title. No wonder, having sets like this. Unfortunately DJ Pfel was
not really on point and did a few small mistakes. For those with fantasy,
knew what he wanted to show , but even bad luck is an ordinary vistor
of the DJ battles.

Of course the showcases of the judges set the whole venue
on fire. DJ Netik (France) event didn´t want to stop scratching,
DJ Tigerstyle (UK), like always, made the impossible things possible,
DJ Flip (Ireland)
let napalm flow on his turntables, the Beatjuggling routine of Kid Fresh
(Germany) is still on a stratospheric level and DJ Tayone (Italy) caused
a traffic jam in whole Prague, by using his footpedal connected to the
Turntables. GOD damn HOT !!!

In total it was a big happening and an important step for turntablism
again to let the world know: We are here and we will stay forever. There
is no limit for creativity.

And here we go with the results:

Advancement
Class :

Scratching
:

Beatjuggling
:

Experimental
Class :

Teams
:

1.
DJ Pro Zeiko (Ger)

1.
DJ Rafik (Ger)

1.
DJ ProZeiko (Ger)

1.
DJ J-Red (Aus)

1.
C2C (Fra)

2.
DJ Craim (Ita)

2.
Unkut (Ger)

2.
Pfel (C2C, Fra)

2.
Five (Czech republic)

2.
Scrape Tacticians (Ger)

Congratulations
to all the winners, thanx a lot to all visitors and involved people.
Without yours support it wouldn´t
have been possible to do that. And a word to our sponsors:

::
RESULTS 2005 ITF EUROPEAN CATEGORY FINAL ::
Dublin – The Village / 20th of November 2005

On November 20th the ITF European Category Battles were held in Dublin.
The venue was called “The Village” and was a really good choice.
It was very clean and comfortable – a lot of comfy couches, plenty
of drinks and quite friendly faces on the ladies who had been waiting
along with the rest of the audience for fresh DJ Battles, Showcases
and Hip Hop Artists. It was a bonanza for everybody! Nowonder then
that that the crowd filled the entire venue and really got into party
mode!

Unfortunately
the weather outside the isle created some trouble which ment
that some flights were cancelled and the C2C crew, DJ Pfel and
DJ Color could not attend the competition. The only possibility
was to hi-jack a plane to bring them over to the green isle but
in times like these perhaps that would not have been the best
idea. But this is life so unfortunately we did not have them
at the competition. Not even Gandalf wouldnt have been able to
help. But anyway….

The
battles were very interesting and there was a lot of young, fresh
talented DJs of which we will hear more about in the future I
am sure. Lets start with DJ Gem : a 16 year old warhorse representing
Ireland. Although he looks harmless and very inconspicuous he
is a powerful and professional DJ with routines that simply melt
the vinyl in 3 minutes! For all who love turntablism this was
great to see. You can bet your entire family that we will see
him for at least the next two years of the ITF World Finals.

Another
surprise was the IFC DJ Crew from Belgium. They only had a few
days left to generate a 6 minute routine but really delivered
the goods. They did not win but nonetheless with more time they
surely would have been serious contenders for first place.

Last
but not least the french competitor in the Scratching Category
named R.Ash has to be mentioned. What an interesting character!
Firstly, he has to be the first competitor in ITF history to
arrive without a mixer and second, he had little concerns about
the mixer and turntable set-up and just used what was already
there for the competitor before him – it was like he was using
his own set of decks at home! He showed us great scratching skills
and, to be sure, we will see this guy again.

Of
course, the judges ( LoF Crew & DJ Flip ) did great Showcases
as well. Specifically DJ Flip : he was so amazing that the audience
completly went mad. His stage presence is contagious this DJ
is a real funny guy who delivers really heavy turntable shit
every time. Routines that make earth quake. You should do a party
with him as you’ll be guaranteed to have the evening won!

The
biggest winners were the German DJs this year. Except for the
title of the Experimental Class,which was won by DJ Shot from
Italy. All the other category titles were won by DJs from Germany
(the country where the government is presenting the cabinet of
political horrors and where the word Deadlock is looming.

It’s
sad to be finished with the competition but there is good news
too and here it is – The Winners!:

The
2005 Australian ITF DJ Championships took place at HOME Sydney
on the 27th October 2005. ITF Australia had 2 Major heats this
year : “South Coast Regional Finals” where South Australia and
Western Australia was invited to battle in Victoria and “North
Coast Regional Finals” where Queensland and ACT was invited to
battle in NSW. The ITF had 5 Categories this year and struggled
with time to get through it all in the one night but managed to
stage a successful battle in the end with some amazing pool of
talent. DJ’s from across Australia came to battle for the crown
of the new Australian ITF DJ Champion. DJ Stanley (The current
Advancement Category Champion) from Sydney had retired from Battling
and decided not to defend. However DJ J Red (The Current Scratching
Category Champion) from Melbourne decided to defend so he was automatically
placed in the top 4 in that category at the National Finals.
So first up the South Coast Regional Heats took place on the 20th October
at Hi Fi Bar, Melbourne and the competitors were as follows: DJ
Deltoid (VIC), DJ Osyris (VIC), Bogues (VIC), ELEV8 (VIC), G-SMOOTH
(VIC), MASH*MARROW (VIC), DJ B-Two (WA), DJ Edo (VIC), Perplex (VIC),
J Red (VIC), Danny Cool (VIC), DJ Sum-1 (SA), Fingertrix (Teams). Judges
on the night were DJ Rafik (Current ITF World DJ Champion), Mark
N (Previous ITF Title Holder), and Prowler (Nuff Said Records).
There was no questioning the credibility of the judges and the competitors
knew they were in for a fair but tuff battle. A few local acts warmed
up the night as the DJ’s got warmed up back stage. The battle commenced
at 10PM and went right through to 3AM with knock out rounds for Scratching,
Beat Juggling and Advancement Categories. J Red was the only X Perimental
entrant and he showcased his 4 Minute VDJ routine at the end of the
night which amazed all the judges and the patrons.

All
in all the night showcased incredible talent but only the top 2 from each
category would go to the National Finals in Sydney and the results were
as follows :

Scratching

Beat
Juggling

Advancement

X-Perimental

1st.G
Smooth

1st.Perplex

1st.J
Red

1st.J
Red

2nd.Perplex

2nd.Mash
Marrow

2nd.G
Smooth

The
following week on the 27th October, it was time for the North Coast
Regional heats and the National Finals at the largest club in the Southern
Hemisphere, HOME Sydney. All North Coast competitors were told to meet
at the club at 5PM for sound check and elimination rounds. The competitors
were as follows :Samrai
(NSW), Eko (NSW), Skoob (NSW), x-divide (NSW), Morphix (QLD), DIGITS
(NSW), Broken Sword (NSW), DJ DIZAR (NSW), DJ Son (NSW), NIKK-C (QLD),
Jez Jonson (NSW), endo (NSW), Maths and Skoob (Teams). Once
again the quality of the competitors was apparent with majority of
DJs having many previous battle scars and the tension was felt across
the room. But they all knew they were going to be judged by the world’s
best so there was no room for errors or nervous mistakes. It was a
simple make or break in the eliminations. The 3 Judges were Rafik (Current
ITF World DJ Champion), Revolution (Producer Extraordinaire, CA. USA),
and Raw (3 X NZ DMC Champion). These judges knew what was at stake
for these competitors and seemed very serious about their job at hand.
The night kicked off at 9PM with the head to head rounds for the North
Coast
Advancement Heats and the results were relayed as follows :

Scratchin

Beat
Juggling

Advancement

X-Perimental

1st.Samrai

1st.Son

1st.Skoob

1st.Samrai

2nd.Morphix

2nd.Broken
Sword

2nd.Broken
Sword

2nd.Nick
C

When
the infamous Rodney O (Who was the MC for Australia’s first ever DMC
DJ Battle in 1989) took the mic, he laid down the rules and all competitors
were wound up to start the Australian Finals. The Final Competitors
were as follows : Samrai
(NSW), Morphix (QLD), Son (NSW), Broken Sword (NSW), Skoob (NSW), Nick
C (QLD), G Smooth (VIC), Perplex (VIC), Mash Marrow (VIC), J Red (VIC),
Fingertrix (VIC), Maths and Skoob (NSW).
As the club slowly filled up with patrons excited to witness a National Battle,
which Sydney was deprived of for so many years, the competitors psyched themselves
backstage knowing this was going to be one of the toughest battles yet.
The Scratching Category was the first to go down with one 90 Second round to
find the top 3. Samrai, Perplex, G Smooth and Morphix gave it all they had
and Morphix was knocked out leaving the top 3 to battle J Red (Defender). Then
it was time for the Semi Finals where one more 90 second knock out rounds with
the top 4 left Samrai and J Red to the final round. The first 2 minute round
was intense but in the second round Samrai decided to give the defending champion
one of his turntables to showcase a single deck routine that brought the house
down. The judges made their decision but the final results were to be announced
at the end of the night leaving the crowd anticipating for more.
Juggling Category was next up and Son, Mash Marrow, Perplex and Broken Sword
gave their best in their 90 second semi final round. Perplex and Son knocked
out the others and went head to head for 2 Minutes in the 2 Final rounds. Son
clearly won the first round and Perplex clearly won the second leaving the
judges no alternative except to draw a tie. It was then announced that they
were to battle it out one more round to break the tie. In a pure spontaneous
format of the ITF they both had to pull out an unexpected routine to battle
each other one last time.
The Advancement category which combines both the scratching and Juggling was
up next. J Red battled Broken Sword while Skoob battled G Smooth in the Semi
Finals. The Finalists was announced and the Stage heated up as Skoob from Newcastle
battled J Red from Melbourne in the category that would take them overseas
to represent Australia in the World Championships. Skoob was definitely the
crowd favorite but J red had some comebacks with skills to match. However there
can only be one winner and the judges made their choice after the 2 incredible
rounds.
Up next was the new X-Perimental Category and first up was Nick C from QLD
using a foot pedal and PC to loop and overlay his sounds simulating a one man
band. The routine was tight as he creatively utilizes the pitch control to
make the melodies and juggled over his orchestrated sounds. Samrai was up next
using only a sampling workstation to create his beats, basslines and melodies.
His remixing of tracks included everything from Men at Work’s “Land Down Under”
to the latest r&b hits. Then it was announced that J Red would do something
that is a ‘world first’ and to the crowd and judge’s amazement his VDJ Routine
was truly a visual spectacle. All in all they all proved that with the help
of technology, this category can take this artform to a level never imagined.
The final category was Teams and after a long night of battling the 2 teams
recouped some energy and showed off their 6 Minute routines.
The Winners was then finally announced with the results as follows :

Australian
National Finals Winners:

Scratching

Beat
Juggling

Advancement

X-Perimental

Teams

1st.
Samrai

1st.
Perplex

1st.
J Red

1st.
J Red

1st.
Fingertrix

2nd.
J Red

2nd.
Son

2nd.
Skoob

2nd.
Samrai

2nd.
Maths & Skoob

Congratulations
to all the winners who received over $25,000 in Prizes thanks to the
ITF sponsors :

DJ
J Red will be representing Australia in Advancement and X-Perimental
Categories at the ITF World Finals on the 17th December at the famous
ROXY in Prague, Czech Republic. For updates visit www.itf-australia.net

Review by KC, Photos courtesy of Bindi Cole

::
THE 2004 ITF WORLD DJ CHAMPIONSHIPS :: GERMANY WINS
THE TITLE IN ALL CATEGORIES !

It
was that time again ! The infamous battle for the more serious tablists.
The ITF offers different categories to highlight different skills
the
DJs have. Each category defined different skills on the turntable.
The Juggler (Someone who is good with eye/ hand co-ordination combined
with speed and precision to make the 2 decks and a mixer play like
a Drum Kit). The Scratcher (Someone who makes melodic tunes by manipulating
a sound on the record with forward, back and pause motions that gives
different tones dependant on the speed. Combined with the fader motions
on the mixer in relation to the beat, creates all the different variants
of scratching). This
December Germany saw many champions from countries across
the globe flying
to the world finals
to battle it out for the prestigious title of
being the World ITF DJ Champion. The unique aspects of this battle
is what attracts many turntablists. "I much prefer the head
to head style of battles as it is more sporadic and spontanious" Mix
Master Mike. The ITF categories include scratching,
beatjuggling, advancement class and team, with a NEW 'Experimental'
category being introduced this year.

The 2004 ITF DJ World Championships was held on Saturday
4th December 2004 at 'Zapata' Pragstr.120 Stuttgart, Germany.
Judges included DJ Tigerstyle 2003
ITF and Allies Beatdown Champion,
the double french champion DJ Pfel as well as GRAND
WIZZARD THEODORE,
the 'Creator of Scratch' himself, DJ
Dopey (Canada)
2003 Technics World DJ Champion, and Shortkut (Beatjunkies). Here
is a brief review of the night courtesy of ITF Germany.

Germany
is WORLD Champion! What did not happen for years in soccer, the
German DJ Team Lordz of Fitness did make it happen four times
in one evening. As
the DJ world elite came together in the Club Zapata on december
4th to battle out the new world champions in four categories, nobody
thought that Germany could take all four champion titles.
Under the eyes of an international jury, 21 turntablists out of
eleven countries performed battles of the extra class till late
in the night and at three o´clock in the morning they brought
a throughout positive result for Germany.
The Lordz of Fitness could defend their title in the team category
and two Djs of the team could win also the other titles in scratching
(DJ Rafik), Beatjuggling (DJ Rasgunyado) and Advancement Class
(DJ Rafik).
But not only the battles convinced everybody from this event. The
whole event „ITF DJ World Championships 2004 presented by PlayStation
2“ was a complete success. Nearly 2000 visitors gathered in and
around the brilliant Club Zapata from the afternoon on and overran
the technik convention and record sale as well as the area for
the eliminations.
Showcases of the jury members and the live acts Blade & Respect
BA from UK as well as Static & Nat Ill from Denmark finished
the performance and with the appearance of the inventor of Scratch
itself, GrandWizzard Theodore, the aftershow party took a perfect
end.

The
results in detail:

Advancement
Class:

1. Rafik (GER)
2. Hara (JAP)
3. Rasgunyado (GER)
4. Virus (USA)

Beatjuggling:

1. Rasgunyado (GER)
2. Mr. B (USA)
3. Virus (USA)

Scratching:

1. Rafik (GER)
2. Flip (IR)
3. Entec (USA)

Team:

1. Lordz of Fitness (GER)
2. Noisy Stylus (GER)
3. Battlestar (USA)

X-Perimental:

1. Trafic (CZ)
2. Man At Cuts (GER)

Picture
Gallery (Click to see larger Pic)

::
THE 2004 TECHNICS WORLD DJ CHAMPIONSHIPS ::

-

Sun
5th September 2004 Hammersmith Apollo, London

USA Takes back the CrownI
Emerge of the 5th Platoon, brings the Gold Decks back to the USA after
4 years since DJ Craze

Vinyl
Kombat, a new DJ Battle to enter the circuit in the USA took place
for the first time on Friday the 3rd of September. Co Ordinated by
Christie Z-Pabon, Hosted by DJ Jazzy Jeff and judged by renown
turntablists : Rhettmatic, J-Rocc, Melo-D, Shortkut of the Beat Junkues
and DJ Quest of the Bullet
Proof Space Travelerz. This was destined to be a quality battle
and heats took place all across the US leading up to the finals. The
Finalists were Skwint
(Platter Pirates), Quixotic (Trooperz), Illtraxx (Evolution DJs), I-Dee
(Trooperz / VA All-Stars), Kico (Platter Pirates), Marcus
(Addicts / VA All-Stars), DJ Tre' (Sloth), and
Swan (Fader Grimmlins). The event was presented by Shure in
association with Rane, Serato and Remix
Magazine. Info courtesy of
Christie (ToolsofWar@aol.com)

::
THE 2003 TECHNICS WORLD DJ CHAMPIONSHIPS ::

Sunday
14th September @ The London's Brixton Accademy

1st.
DJ Dopey (Canada)
2nd. Enferno - USAc
3rd. Quest - UK

DJ
Dopey is the second Canadian to win the World finals following A Track
who has made a reputable name with his many sucessful world tours and
teaming with the Allies at such an early age. DJ Dopey took some time
out after his celebratory vacation to speak to us for a brief interview.

What
is your real name ?
Jon Ryan Santiago

How
long have you been a battle DJ ?
I've been a battle Dj for about 5 yrs now

Tell
us a bit about your background and how you first started out.
Well, my big bro started to get into the Dj thing a little bit when I was in
Gr.8 (13 yrs old). I just recall him & I trying to skratch on our house
stereo system that had a built in turntable. It was pretty funny, that shit
was skipping like crazy LOL!!! But I didn't really get my equipent until I
was about 16 years old. The money was hard to raise but I managed to get my
mom to buy me a used 1200 plus I had bought another Technics deck that didn't
even have pitch control on it, the mixer was bought by my bro for my b-day
and that's how I finally got my shit together (in a nutshell at
least).

What or who were your inspirations for battling and turntablism ?
My main inspiration was probably Q and the piklz, they were a huge part of
my getting interested in the battle part of things. Just seeing the DMC and
ITF vids was much inspirations, the heated battles between X-Men and ISP, Craze
vs. Eclipse, A-Trak winning in '97 all these events had a big part in
me getting interested.

Have
you or will you be involved with any studio work ?
I have been involved with light studio work with artist such as Saukrates,
Cholair, and other local artists. In regards to doing my own beats i've
been learning the past year and will eventually come out with tracks, break
records etc involving T.O. artists and J-Tec of the Turntable Monkz.

Have
there been other highlights of your career prior to winning the World
Finals ?
Oh for sure, I got to work with hip hop icons Main Source for their first ever
show anywhere in 10yrs. Me and K-cut came up with a little mix for me
to skratch over to open up the show, that was really dope. And just opening
for other acts such as Eminem, Rahzel, Kardinall etc.

How
did the crew turntable monks come about ? Tell us a bit about it's
members J Tec, Tantrum and the crew's origins.
Turntable Monkz basically formed when we were in high school. We were actually
2 different crews that kinda didn't really like eachother. It was
J-Tec, Tantrum, and illbuddha (he's a dope skratcher that is still very active
till today) in one crew and myself and koolkat in another crew.
Eventually we all realized that the school was big enough for both crews and
that we'd both benefit if we just joined forces, so we merged together and
that was how Turntable Monkz were formed. And today i'm sorry to inform peeps
that Tantrum has recently gotten married and is gonna have a baby in a couple
of days (congrats chris!!) so he's not too active no more, and KoolKat basically
went his own ways after high school finished but we still keep in touch once
and a while.

You
have earned the title of 2 time national champion in Canada and now
the champion of the World. It must have taken a lot of dedication and
perseverance to reach this goal. How often are you on the decks and
what drives you to train this hard.
It mos definately took alot of perseverence, basically after everybattle I
just got even hungrier and hungrier. And the fact that the Canadian Title was
one of the only titles (and biggest) to elude me in Canada that made it much
more interesting to chase. But honestly after last year I really thought that,
that was it for battling, just cauz i've been doin it for so long I was ready
to accept that I had achieved all that I could in the battle scene and was
ready to move on. But somewhere in the process of "hanging the gloves" peeps
talked me in to doin one more year and so I did. So I approached this years
DMC's very different, I practiced not as hardcore as the years before and I
had more fun with it and took it less serious, and it seemed to work. But for
the record I still put a good 4 hours on the turns during competition time.

Some
turntablists look at old videos to get inspired for new material
in their set. What sparks you to get ideas for the battle and does
your crew members have any influence on your final routine ?
My ideas come from all over, i've gotten ideas from older vids like you said
and even a movie sound track that I like, it comes from anything and
everything. My crew does have alot of say into my routines, i'll usually bar
it out and all that and when it's nice and tidy then I take it to J-Tec
or my boy Device (a dope local kat) for some input. Another thing i'll do is
actually try it in a live show and see how the reaction is, that usually
tells me wether the routine is hot or not. But I would never try the live show
thing if I didn't think peeps can understand it in the first place.

How
would you describe your style in battles ?
I would describe my style as a very aggressive style, when i'm battling i try
to make it more of an impact routine and that's why my kutz are alwayz
fast and shit. I just gotta learn how to transfer the impact to more chill
routines. But I also think that my style is pretty simple and funky and
thats what gets me through as well.

Tell
us a bit about this year's battle. Who were you looking out for and
did you see any new styles or techniques ?
Ummm, basically this year i went in there without any expectations. I just
wanted to throw down what I had in a decent manner and I woulda been happy
with just that. It was just a big bonus that majority of the peeps liked the
shit that I was doin. As I said earlier I treated this year very
different from all the other years i've been in the comp, I was more relaxed
and just wanted to have fun with it instead of bein all uptight about
things. And in regards to the competition, everyone was dope everyone had something
new to bring to the table. Tiger Styles was dope, Enferno was
sick, Quest was really dope and technical; basically the competition is on
a much higher level than it was a couple of years ago and is really good to
see.

Where
do you see the future of turntablism heading ?
I see it heading towards a more musical appraoch with kats sounding more and
more like musical intruments rather than a pair of turntables. The battle scene
might cool off for a bit but i'm sure it will pick up again in a bit.

Any
tips for the upcoming turntablists ?
Keep doing your thing and just have fun with things and be creative, that's
the essence of your success.

Do
you do many club gigs back home and what style of music do you like
to play ?
I do play out when i'm at home, I ususally play hip-hop (old and new), old
school R/B, getting in to playing more funk and uptempo type beats and
ocassionally a little reggae.

I
know it may be a bit early for this question but, are you planning
any tours and can we expect to see you perform in Australia ?
I would love to get out to Australia, i've heard nothing but good things about
the local peeps in your home country. And I heard that its a beautiful place
to be as well.

All
time top 5 Tracks.
1. Code of da streets/Gangstarr
2. Father Time/Saukrates
3. Wrong Side of the Tracks/Artifacts
4. How many emcee's/Blackmoon
5. Soul By The Pound/Common

Interview
by KC for United DJ Mixing School

::
ITF WORLD FINALS 2003 ::

ITF
WORLD FINALS 2003took
place once again in Germany, due to it's sell out event last year.
The eliminations
took place in the “Forum am Deutschen Museum”on 5th december, and
the finals in each category was battled out in the Muffathalle in Munich on 6th
december. More than 40 djs from 15 different nations took part in the battles.
The new champs :

THE
ALLSTAR BEATDOWN is the first DJ battle founded and organized by
DJs for DJs, hoping to add a sense of integrity to the voting process,
all judges read their votes publicly immediately following competitors'
performance. This creates a more honest and open event, dispelling
any rumors, conspiracy theories or politics within the voting process.
The best aspect of this competition would have to be the introduction
of giving the competetors (who are rightfully the stars of the
show) royalties for the rest of their lives on video sales. Respect
!
The 2003 World Finals were held on November 7th, 2003 at Fabric Night Club, London. The results are :

The
2002 Vestax World Finals was held in Fabric Nightclub on the 21st
November 2002.The original Vestax DJ Competition was established two decades
ago. Winners of the early finals in Japan included fresh new names
that have now become industry heros: DJ Honda, ECD, DJ Krush, GM
Yoshi, DJ Beat, DJ Ta-Shi, and Piston Nishizawa. Then, after twenty
years of red-hot annual competition in Japan, Vestax decided it was
time to change the national Competition to an international Extravaganza.
Past World Champions include incredible turntablists such as : Melo-D (Streaming video at The United DJ Mixing
School), A-Track,
Swift Rock, Plus One (Streaming Video), and Boogie Blind.

Last Year the
battle was held outside of Japan for the first time in L.A and this
year it will hit London in November at club FABRIC. This
Competition has been widely recognised with the inclusion of scratch
artists such as Q-Bert, Mixmaster Mike, the X- Ecutioners and the
World Famous Beat Junkies on the judging panel.Several
of the world finals have featured group turntablist performances
by the judging panels, and the final this year in London promises
the same formula.

This
is the second time the Vestax Extravaganza has had a heat final for
Australia and New Zealand, giving local turntablists the opportunity
to represent at this year’s world final. Last year’s battle was extremely
close, with Stanley and J-Red competing in a tied final followed
by a 2 min knockout battle. Both 2001 finalists receive automatic
selection for this year’s invitations, so expect a high standard!

This
year Vestax welcome a co-sponsor to the stage, Shure cartridges,
who are also involved with the competition in other areas of the
globe. Shure will provide prizes and giveaways on the night, and
DJ Kuya, the Shure representative, will be a member of the judging
panel. Also confirmed for the judging panel is DJ KC, owner of United
DJ’s, and a former Australian DMC title holder.

The
Vestax Battle uses an elimination system comprising of 4 heats (3 minutes
each), 1 quarter final (3 minutes each), 1 semi final (5 minutes each)
and the grand final (5 minutes each). Four competitors will be eliminated
after the first 4 heats have taken place. This will open the quarterfinal.
The two winners form the quarter final will battle for 2nd and
1st place in the grand final, where the losers from the quarter
final will move to the semi final to battle for 3rd.

All three finalists
will be awarded with high-end turntablist equipment from Vestax. The
winner will receive 2 x limited edition Vestax PDX 2000 turntables, and
an all expenses paid trip to London to represent Australia and New Zealand
in the world final at Fabric nightclub.

The judging methods
used in this competition are extremely stringent. There are three main
parameters. Technical Skill: this is an area where each entrant is assessed
on ability. Composure: this is an area where entrants are assessed on
how their set is constructed and delivered. Originality: this is an area
where each entrant is assessed on new material. An added section is crowd
reaction, but this will only hold a relatively small part in the points
system.

The unique feature with the Vestax competition
is the equipment used during the battles. Competitors are required to
use the performance based PDX-2000 straight arm turntables loaded with
60% pitch range, instant reverse and variable start/stop controls for
the motor. With this control over the vinyl, you can expect to hear some
different sound and techniques on the night. DJ’s have the choice of
any of the 7 models in the industry-standard PMC 05/06/07 series.

The
World Championships results

1st : DJ Woody (UK)

2nd : Tai-Ji (JP)

3rd : DJ Dopey (CAN)

4th : Man at Arms (GER)

5th : Rei-zi (JP)

The Australasian Vestax Turntablist Extravaganza
was held on the 9th of November @ “The Lounge” 243 Swanston
St
Melbourne.

The Results were as follows:

1. Sum-1 (SA)

2. J-Red (VIC)

3. Alphabet Head (NZ)

Full
Video of the Aussie finals will be uploaded as soon as we get the footage
from Vestax.
Here are some previews in the mean time .... (CLICK BELOW TO VIEW WITH REAL PLAYER)

This year's All Star Beat Down
was held on December 10, 2002 at Irving Plaza @ 17 Irving Place & 15th
St. New York City and featured Craze. A-Trak, Infamous, Spictakular,
J-Smoke, Klever, Tony Vegas, Prime Cuts, Plus One, Mista Sinista,
Money Mark, The Jungle Drummer, Dopey, Precision, Solution, Netik,
Trouble, Gimamen, and P-Money

The Allies All-Star Beatdown Invitational was created with the mission
of catering to today's top battle DJs. The All-Star Beatdown is customized
to be the kind of competition that the Allies crew had always dreamed
of winning,
but which didn't exist at the time!

The Allies All Star Beatdown is organized and judged by DJ Champions.

For more info visit http://www.allstarbeatdown.com/

:: 2002 DMC BATTLE REPORTS
::

2002 TECHNICS/ DMC DJ CHAMPIONSHIPS

"Sharpen your stylus and let the Battle begin"

Over 40 countries around the globe now hold competitions
annually to finda national championwho
is then flown to the World finals. This year to everyone's amazement, JAPAN
has won the championships, with DJ Kentaro taking out the title (The
Gold Decks have shipped back to the place where they were made). The
results are :

1st Place
: Kentaro from Japan (Picture Below)2nd Place : Skully from UK
3rd Place : Dopey from Canada

Battle For World Supremacy:
1st Place : DJ Netic from France
2nd Place : DJ Je-Key from Spain

Team Battle:
1st Place : Birdy Nam Nam from France
2nd Place : La Guilde from Belgium
3rd Place : Mixologists from UK

DJ Kentaro (Japan) Wins the 2002 Technics World DJ Championships

Here is a brief interview
with DJ Kentaro by KC

How long have you
been on the decks?
7yrs. Since 13yrs old.

Who inspired you
to be a battle DJ ?
There have been many djs who inspired me but especially shortcut and
craze

What was your first
battle?
DMC Tohoku Regional Heat 1998

Do you hold any other
titles to date ?
2002 DMC World Champion and 2001 DMC World 3rd. (might need more?)

What do you think
of the standards at this years world finals ?
All the DJs were at high level juggling and scratching.

Describe your style
?
My style is juggling based and I take the 6mins of routine as one “song”.
I don’t want people to see my show and routine partially, I want people
to see and listen my 6mins set carefully as one “track”. I use juggles
and scratches as tools to create music. They are just tools to me. (use
of headphone recommended for this years set if you have a chance to listen!)

What do you think makes you stand out from the rest ?
Again, I think of myself that I have a strong concept “tightness”
and “personality” in melodious and musical routine on this years 6mins
set. When I started working on this years set, I was not going for creating
a few routines such as juggles and scratches and just mix them
together, but I wanted to create a “song” all way through from beginning
to the end. It may be called one total constructed “music”. As you know,
on my 6mins, you can’t stop head bending all way through in this years
set. It seems way shorter than it is 6mins, doesn’t it?

In your opinion what qualities are needed to be a world champion ?
Open minded to all kinds of music and love music! Don’t discriminate
music too much.

And last but not
least.......HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE FIRST DJ TO BRING THE GOLD
TURNTABLES BACK TO JAPAN ?
It means a lot to me and to Japanese turntablism scene as well. This
will definitely be a big kick for Japanese Club culture, music scene
and hope to see many great turntablists will appear in Japan.

The Australian
Finals
were held on the 31st of August 2002 at the QBH in Melbourne. The results
are as follows :

1st. Selekt
2nd. Samarai
3rd. Sum1

TEAM BATTLE

1st. Dirty Duo
2nd. ISO crew
3rd. The Untouchables

Congratulations
to DJ Selekt (The
NEW Australian Technics DJ Champion) who
will be representing Australia at the World Finals together with
his partner DJ J Red (Dirty Duo).

The NSW Finals
was held at the Metro on the 13th July and the Judges were as follows
:

The Judges had 3
parameters:
Technical Ability, Ability for Beat Creation, and Originality.
No Points system but the Top 3 was required by each judge and tallied
for the final result.

The night started
with a bit of a disappointment. The youngest DJ to ever enter the
DMC aged 15 yrs old (DJ Spin) made through the eliminations but was
not allowed back in the Club for the Finals because of age restrictions.
So unfortunately the people did not have a chance to see his skills.
DJ Nino Brown started the night off with his renown DJ/ Turntablist
Club Set. Koolism followed after with DJ Danielson showing that he
is in no way rusty behind the decks. Then as the venue reached it's
capacity, it was time for the International Guest DJ Revolution who
showcased an incredible club set that brought the house down. Then
finally It was now time for the battle, and the extremely sexy and
talented MC Camiel gave us the running order of the DJ's. This is
where I'll have to stop and let you watch the sets yourself, otherwise
you'll just read another personal opinion of the battle. Check it
out and please give your comments .....

The Videos
below will only work withReal Player.
Simply click on the pictures !

DJ DUMBO

DJ D-SIDE

DJ SPEEDRACER

DJ CENTRIX

DJ SUBWAY

DJ J PRIME

DJ STANLEY

DJ D TERONE

DJ NORMZ

DJ SON

THE JUDGES RESULTS:

1st : DJ Son

2nd : DJ Stanley

3rd : DJ Normz

Congratulations to DJ Dr. Son
who will represent NSW in the Australian Finals in Melbourne on the
31st August 2002 to battle against other states and the defending
Australian Champion DJ Samuri. As there were no other team entrants,
the only team entrant (DJ Subway and DJ Speedracer) will automatically
represent NSW in the Team Championships in Melbourne. We wish them
all the best of luck .....

Last year We
decided to post a "People's Choice award" for the World wide web
so that the People can watch the sets and have their say. We are
continuing with this Award this year and if you would like to contribute, the
footage can be viewed by clicking on the contestant's pictures
above.

"People's Choice
Award"

Vote Here for
your favourite DJ and have your say ! Poll will end on the 15th August
2002.